Out of Place
by Murphy's Penguin Factory
Summary: Insanity runs rampant when different worlds collide. Uses characters from Thir13en Ghosts, Red Eye, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, and others.
1. An Odd Arrival

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except the characters of Dolly and Tess, and what you might call a plot.

**Summary:** Insanity runs rampant when different worlds collide. Uses characters from _Thirteen Ghosts_, _Red Eye_, _Pirates of the Caribbean_, _Lord of the Rings_, and others.

**Chapter One: An Odd Arrival**

"This," a chuckle, a feminish chuckle, "Is perfect. Don't you agree, Tess?"

"Mhm." the one named 'Tess' nodded slowly, a broad, sinister smile growing on her lips. She looked at the house before them, or what was left of one. Glass shards were sprayed all over the area, threatening any visitors that came towards the house. "So, tell me how you found this again, Dolly..."

It was 5:00 A.M., and still dark out. The moon was out, and the sun was gradually rising. The low chirps of the early birds echoed through the threatening woods. But this didn't seem to bother the two women, not one bit. They were making their way to the glass house, small pieces and shards crunching under their applied weight. And one must be wondering by now, what in God's name were these two individuals doing here?

"Can you remind me again why we're here?" questioned Tess as they neared the front of the glass house. Or at least what should have the front of the glass house.

Dolly rolled her eyes. Sometimes she wondered why she had bothered to drag Tess along.

"I told you in the car, remember?"

"That doesn't mean that I was paying attention. I have an iPod after all..."

Tess and her blasted music. That was all she ever did. She was constantly listening to music, or humming it, drumming it on any type of surface available, or playing it on her Takamine guitar. It got really old really fast. But then again, Dolly liked her music too and enjoyed singing.

"Argh. You're so... so... dumb!" Dolly kicked the ground in anger and pouted.

"Well, soorryyy." Tess rolled her eyes and looked down at her iPod, searching through the music. She smiled to herself and bobbed her head to the music, tapping her hands on her thighs. Tess's eyes closed, her head still bobbing, unaware of the still intact glass panel in front of her.

"Uh, Tess..."

Of course Tess didn't listen and went face-first into the panel, cursing loudly.

"Hate to say I told you so," Dolly chuckled and walked around the glass, walking through what used to be the door. She looked around, dragging her feet. "God, what a place!"

"It's kinda creepy, ya know? I mean, I have this odd feeling that there's something still here."

"Oh, yeah, it's the past ghosties that lived here. Whoo." She waggled her fingers in front of Tess's face.

"No, seriously. It's just, odd."

"Huh," said Dolly. She too, could feel the presence of some being.

"I hate everything about you!" Tess sung along with her iPod, blissfully unaware of how childish she was acting. In reality, she was twenty-five, but as Dolly often told her, she was still fifteen in her own little world.

Dolly rolled her eyes and left to examine the rest of the glass house. Tess could fend for herself. After all, there was nothing in the house, or at least that's what she had been told.

When she went downstairs, she was being to think she had been lied to.

It was strange; the whole house was strange. And the smell. Bleugh. Nauseating. It was a rotten egg smell, strong and thick through the air. She glanced around slowly, watching her surroundings closely. "No one is here," she said to herself, "No one is here..."

Tess, on the other hand, was enjoying herself as she walked around the house, looking at every nook and cranny. Oh yes, Ms. Investigator. She murmured the lyrics, stopping when she saw something interesting. "Hey! Hey, Dolly!" She picked up a pair of glasses that looked at though they had never been touched.

"Teesss!" Dolly screamed as she raced up the steps, as a 'thing' with a caged head chased her, laughing maniacally. She ran for dear life. Turning swiftly down the hall, she stopped as a panel kept her from going any farther. She turned around, backing against the wall, giant blue eyes staring at the haunting yellow ones in front of her. This was one hell of a way to end her young life.

"I wonder what these do," said Tess out loud as she tried on the glasses. She shrugged when she did not notice any differences and headed downstairs.

At least the glasses were kind of cool looking.

She figured out their purpose as soon as she noticed a demented caged person beside Dolly, who was trapped against a glass panel with her back to Tess.

"Shit!" hissed Tess before running to the glass and banging on it. "DOLLY!"

Dolly couldn't hear Tess, but the caged man only smirked. He looked towards Tess and giggled, before looking back at Dolly.

"Ooh, shit... Ehe, hi?" She dove to the side when the man swung out at her, his nails ripping the sleeve of her shirt. And she ran, ran like there was no tomorrow, until she ran into something, well, someone. She slowly looked up, making eye contact with a light green-eyed man, the side of his face mangled and bloodied.

Tess kicked the glass. "Damned...thing!" she screamed at the Jackal through the glass, green eyes narrowed. She looked around and ran back upstairs. This wasn't fun anymore.

Tess fled the house, feet kicking up shards of glass as she ran. She tripped as she closed in on the car and her feet flew out from under her. Glass sliced through her jeans and the thin skin of her palms. Tess swore violently as she picked shards from her bleeding hands.

A shadow fell across her and she looked up into a pair of crystal blue eyes. She jumped and tried to crawl backwards before remembering that her hands were cut and she was in the middle of a field of glass.


	2. Making New Friends

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except the characters of Dolly and Tess, and what you might call a plot.

**Chapter Two: Making New Friends**

"I'm really started to hate this place!" murmured Dolly, trying to analyze the worsening situation. The green-eyed man smiled at her and she narrowed her blue eyes. This was clearly not her day.

Dolly balled a fist up, and pulled her arm back, ready to strike the cursed thing. But that didn't work so well. Instead, he grabbed her fist with his good hand, holding it tightly. "Let me go! Let me go!" she yelled at him, pulling hard. Of course, the ghost did let go, and Dolly fell back, only to noticed the Jackal standing over her, smirking viciously. "Why me, Lord?" she asked silently.

"Um, hi," said Dolly to the Jackal, trying to be polite. She really did not want to die by this homicidal maniac's hands.

The Jackal giggled maniacally, and lunged at Dolly, who scooted under the Torn Prince's legs. She rolled over, and quickly stood, running out of the room. The Jackal went head on into the other ghost, toppling both over.

Tess groaned deeply. "God damnit, what happened?" She slowly reached up to touch her face, but as she did, her still warm, crimson blood was smeared across her face. She yelled and jumped into a sitting position, only to realize she was back in the bloody house. She looked around, feeling a presence close by.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," groaned Tess as she inspected her surroundings.

"Why's that?" questioned a male voice from behind her, causing the redhead to jump.

"Jackson?"

Tess turned around slowly, looking up at the man who spoke. "Oooh... shit..." She clenched her teeth, backing up quickly.

Jackson stepped closer where Tess could see him better. He was dressed in a suit and she could make out the small mark above the collar of his shirt. His cold blue eyes were partially hidden by his long dark hair and in his right hand was a knife.

A very sharp knife.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Tess asked, pissed and scared at the same time.

"If I knew, I would tell you. But as it is, I don't."

Tess scoffed, "Yeah, like an assassination manager wouldn't know exactly what he's doing..."

In a flash the knife was at her throat. "How is that you know who I am?" he questioned.

"I'm sorry, did I forget to tell you that I've been stalking you? How rude of me."

**Author's Notes:**

Enjoy! Please review!


	3. Glasses and Ghosties

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except the characters of Dolly and Tess, and what you might call a plot.

**Chapter Three: Glasses and Ghosties**

Dolly grinned at this, and continued running, making her way up the stairs and around the maze of a house. She spotted Tess through some broken glass panels, noticing a man with a blade at her throat.

"Hey!" she yelled, running towards them, but that didn't last long. The Jackal squealed as he lunged at Dolly, knocking his little playmate to the ground. A long shard of glass sliced through her cheek, leaving a small pool of blood. He rolled her over on her back, drawing his hand back to claw at her face. But, he didn't. He couldn't. Instead, he crawled off of her and stood, kicking her towards Tess and Jackson.

"What the hell was that?" questioned Jackson, surprised as he noticed Dolly coming their way.

"That's Dolly. My friend who, oh-so-kindly, dragged me out here in the first place," snapped Tess, glaring at Jackson and at the blonde on the floor. If she were in a position to kill anyone, she wasn't quite sure who she'd kill first—Jackson or Dolly. Maybe both of them at the same time.

"Oh," was all that the assassination manager said.

"Oh, screw you Tess. You agreed to come with me." She slowly lifted her head off the floor, wincing. Reaching up, she began to pluck the glass out of the side of her face.

Tess's eyes narrowed at her friend. She was too angry to reply.

Dolly shook the hair from her face, and looked at Jackson. "I guess she didn't tell you this house has some remaining spirits, huh?"

"Spirits?" questioned Jackson curiously. "What kind of spirits?"

"The kind you can't kill with a knife," hissed Tess in reply, glaring at them both. She had had it with this crazy house. She wanted to go home!

Dolly shot a look at Tess. "They're dead, of course. And they aren't Casper the Friendly Ghost." She looked around, frowning a bit. "Didn't you find a pair of glasses or something, Tess?"

"Glasses? Like these?" questioned Jackson, twirling a pair on a finger. "What do glasses have to do with anything?"

"You're about to find out," replied Dolly, feeling the familiar chill that she had come to associate with ghosts. "Put them on."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" snapped Tess. She had a bad feeling about the glasses. They had seemed normal to her at first, but who really knew? Dolly did, but not that meant that they were a good thing. The last time she'd been wearing those things, she'd ended up running from the house and into Jackson.

Jackson rolled his blue eyes and slipped on the glasses just as the Jackal turned the corner. "Oh shit," he hissed.

Dolly tensed, and looked up at the Jackal. "We have to get out of here," she hissed, slowly moving backwards, trying not to attract attention.

Tess looked at her. "I was thinking that a long time ago!" she snapped back, only to have the Jackal look over at the two. He smiled viciously, and stepped passed Jackson, who was practically gawking at the thing, and walked towards the women.

"Jackson can fend for himself for now; let's go!" Dolly grabbed Tess and pulled her up, half-dragging her past the insane ghost.

"Where are we going?" Tess questioned as Dolly dragged her through the house.

"I don't know!" cried Dolly, searching for an enclosed room to protect them from the ghosts.

"Are we really going to leave him behind?"

Dolly rolled her eyes and refused to answer her friend's question. Of course they were going to leave him behind! He had a knife after all! The last thing they needed was for him to kill them.

A girly scream sounded from below them. The ghosts had found Jackson.

"Jesus, who was that!" Dolly stopped abruptly, looking around. She looked at Tess. "Was that..."

"Jackson?" Tess finished, looking down at the glass below them

Dolly shook her head and began running again, turning down a hall. She slid into a room that was still intact. "Stay here. I'll go get the pansy before he gets killed."

Tess looked at her. "Are you crazy? You'll get killed!"

Dolly only tilted her head. "I guess so." She shrugged and turned to run off.


	4. Jackson Is a Pansy

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except the characters of Dolly and Tess, and what you might call a plot.

**Chapter Four: Jackson Is a Pansy**

Tess stood there for a moment before taking off after her friend. She did not want to be alone in this crazy house. Even if it meant running into danger.

"Jackson, you are never going to hear the end of this, you pansy," hissed Tess under her breath as she ran.

Dolly and Tess entered the room, where Jackson was currently screaming his head off in fear as he slashed at the ghosts with his knife, just a few moments apart.

"Shit, shit, shit!" cursed Tess and ghosts looked up and away from Jackson. Jackson stopped screaming and seemed relieved.

They were doomed.

"Damnit Tess!" Dolly cursed, looking back at her friend. "Did you have to follow?"

Tess growled under her breath, as the Jackal tilted his head. The Torn Prince tightened his grip on his bat, bringing it up to his shoulder. Dolly looked towards Jackson, shaking her head.

Dolly clenched her teeth, "Get that pansy over here," she said, looking at the ghosts, "And hurry. I'll hold these guys back." Dolly felt chills run down her spine as she slowly walked towards the ghosts. The Jackal giggled, his sharp yellow eyes watching her. She bit her lip, and took one more step closer, hoping that Tess would get Jackson out of there soon.

Tess grabbed Jackson by the hand and dragged the shaking manager away from the ghosts that Dolly was distracting.

"Come on!" she hissed.

"The eyes..." whispered Jackson, completing beginning to lose it, as he shook his head. "Oh they were creepy..."

"The eyes are gone, at least for the moment."

Dolly looked at Tess, ushering her to go. She looked back at the ghosts, who seemed to be growing just a bit closer to her. "So, heh, I uh, better go?" She turned to run, but a hand grabbed her hair, yanking her back. She yelped, and fell on the ground, the Jackal standing over her. "Uh, hiya?"

Tess turned down the hall, pulling Jackson along with her. "Damn it to Mordor and back!" she hissed, before looking over her shoulder. Jackson was mumbling to himself, staring blankly at her red hair.

* * *

Dolly had escaped from the Jackal, and ran down the hall, the laughing maniac close behind.

"I'm gonna die!" she wailed, turning down a hall. She ran until she ended up running into Jackson, making her jump, and fall back.

Tess turned and looked down at Dolly. "What are you doing on the floor?"

Dolly rolled her eyes at Tess, before spitting, "Taking a nap! What about you?"

"Um, I dunno," replied the redhead, getting a confused look on her face. For supposedly being a smart person, Tess did and said a lot of stupid things. Everyone liked to attribute that to her brother's influence. But Dolly knew it was just the way she was.

"Hello, my name's Jackson. Do I know you?" Jackson interrupted the staring contest between the two friends.

"Go crawl in a hole and die," said Tess, to no one in particular.

Dolly quickly stood up, looking around. "Just. Go." she hissed, closing her eyes and rubbing the bridge of her nose. She looked up when she heard a sadistic giggle. "GO!" she yelled, grabbing Tess's arm and pulling it.

Tess blinked and jerked forward, pulling Jackson with her. The three ran, twisting and turning down the halls. Dolly leaned on a wall, and closed her eyes. Tess let go of Jackson and wandered around.

"This place is hugee..." she said, looking around.

Dolly shrugged. "Yeah, it is." She blinked and frowned, feeling someone breathing on her face. "Dude, Jackson, stop." She lifted her hand to swat him away, only to hit a rusty cage. She quickly opened her eyes, and pressed against the wall, the Jackal standing right in front of her. His hands pressed against the glass, holding her against the wall. She turned her face away, biting her lip, trying to keep from screaming.

* * *

"Whee!" called Tess, acting like she was high or on drugs—which she probably was—the girl was always popping medication. She was dancing around to an invisible tune in her head. No more iPod for her...

"Hey, we've got to go," whispered Jackson, grabbing onto Tess's arm, jerking her out of her trance-like state.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!"

"Listen," Jackson growled. He had gone back to normal—once the shock had worn off. "Your friend is in trouble and she's the only one who knows what the hell is going on. Now, you either come with me, or take your chances on your own with them."

"I think I'll go with you," said Tess, nodding her head as she grabbed onto his arm. "I don't want to meet those ghosts alone."

"Good answer. Now let's go save your friend."


	5. Pansies and Fighting

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except the characters of Dolly and Tess, and what you might call a plot.

**Chapter Five: Pansies and Fighting **

"Get off me you sadistic freak!" Dolly yelled, kicking and squirming. Ryan had her wrists tightly in his hands, holding them down by her side. He growled, reaching up with one hand, holding her neck in a strangling hold. He lifted her up a few inches, smirking at her.

"What're you doing here?" he asked, watching as Dolly coughed and gagged.

"It's... a huge... mistake..." she coughed, clenching her eyes shut. "Now... will you... please... let me go...?"

The Jackal shook his head, slowly digging his sharp nails into her neck. He looked over to his side, yellow eyes narrowing. He let go of Dolly's neck, who gasped in as much air as she could. But he wasn't done yet. He grabbed the blonde's hair, half-dragging her down the hall as she yelled and kicked. "OFF, OFF, OFF, OFF, OFF!" she screamed at him, clawing at her head. Now she wished Tess was here, more than anything in the world.

"Hey!" cried Tess, seeing the Jackal dragging Dolly. "Let go of my friend!"

The calvary—or more accurately Tess and Jackson—had arrived.

Tess pulled at Dolly, yanking her away from the grasp of the ghost. She swatted and kicked at the ghost, before realizing that she could not harm it. Tess grabbed Dolly and looked at Jackson.

"Come on!" he called, pointing out a route ahead.

Dolly and Tess took a short, deep breath and started running after the dark haired man. Tess's boot heels made a slight sound as they tapped the floor, giving their position away a little as they ran.

Finally, they stopped short and Tess smacked into Jackson's back.

"Why the hell did you stop running?" hissed the pissed redhead, glaring at the taller Jackson.

"Isn't it obvious? There's nowhere left to run," he spat back.

Blue eyes met blue-green-gray eyes in a stare that was broken only by Dolly's muttered curses, "Shit. We're in deep shit."

The three had run into a glass-enclosed dead end. They turned around and could hear the ghosts' cackles of laugh as they began to close in on their prey.

Dolly looked around. "Jackson, give me your knife," she hissed quickly. "And you two, just stay here. I have an idea."

Tess looked at her friend. "Idea? What kind of idea is this?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at Dolly.

Jackson looked between the two. "And why do you need_ my _knife?"

Dolly closed her eyes. "Damnit, just stay here and give me the knife! I know what I'm doing!"

"Jackson, give her the knife," Tess insisted, reaching towards where Jackson was standing in a corner and cradling the blade like it was a baby. In a sense it was—it was Jackson's baby.

"Never!" he snapped. "Go and get your own!"

"Okay, no more nice redhead!" warned Tess before head-butting Jackson, using his own trick against him. He was stunned and Tess used the moment to wrestle the knife from his grasp and toss it to Dolly.

Jackson growled at Tess, as everything stopped spinning, and he tackled her to the ground. She smacked at him, while he went to put his hands around her throat. She managed to elbow him in the jaw, thanks to being double-jointed, and kick him in a rather sensitive area. He howled in pain and released her. Tess rolled away and then quickly stood up.

Dolly caught the knife, and sucked in a deep breath. "Keep kicking him in the balls, Tess. He'll learn." She darted off, clutching the knife handle in her hand.

Tess grinned and looked at Jackson. "Pansy." she said, then turned to watch Dolly.

Jackson clenched his teeth. "Not... funny..."

* * *

Dolly stopped then, as she reached the ghosts. "Well, well, looks like you've come back for more?" The Jackal questioned, raking a nail down her good cheek. Dolly flinched a bit, sliding her fingers along the blade's handle.

"Not really," she said, then pulled out the knife, jamming it into Ryan's stomach. She swung out with her leg, hitting the other ghost straight in the chest, knocking him away. She smiled to herself, but yelped in pain when sharp claws dug into her upper arm. This only pissed Dolly off more and she swung around, grabbing his cage and shaking it as hard as she could. The Jackal quickly let go, and so did Dolly. The ghost flopped on the floor, whimpering like a wounded animal. Dolly reached down and grabbed Jackson's precious knife. "Now will you leave us alone?"

Ryan closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Bitch," he whined. "That really hurt." He flopped back on the glass floor, a loud 'thunk' heard from his cage. Dolly shook her head, then glanced at the Torn Prince, who was slowly sitting up, holding his bat.

"Don't even think about it," she said, narrowing her blue eyes.

* * *

"That really hurt, you know?" Jackson said, distracting Tess from the goings-on between Dolly and the Jackal.

"Nope, I haven't a clue. Would you like me to do it again?" Tess's tone was slightly pissed.

"Hell no. Are you insane?"

"I went to school in an insane asylum for two years. If I wasn't crazy before I went there, I sure as hell was when I came out," Tess told him, smirking at him. She wasn't going to let the assassination manager get the better of her.

"I can tell," he muttered under his breath. "She's crazier than this damn house!"

Tess looked at Jackson. "The house can't be crazy," she said, "It's an inanimate object. It has no feelings, or emotions." She looked towards Dolly, who was walking over to them. "Have fun?"

Dolly smirked. "Yep."

"Thought so."

Jackson looked between them. "Do you have something against the male race?" he asked, gawking at them.

Tess and Dolly shrugged. "Eh, I dunno," Tess replied. "Maybe it's just the three of you."

Dolly nodded, slyly hiding Jackson's knife. "Okay. I guess we should have no more problems since those two are down. Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," sighed Tess with a half-smile.

"Ready? Ready for what?" questioned Jackson, looking between the two women suspiciously.

"Dolly? Would you care to explain?"

"Well," Dolly started, looking around. "We're going to try and find our way out of this God-forsaken place, and go get stuff out of my car." She looked at Tess. "Do you remember how we got here?"

Tess shrugged. "Nope." she replied, and Dolly rolled her eyes.

"Fine, we'll figure it out."

Jackson stared at them. "What about th-"

"They won't bother us." Dolly butted, smiling.

"Let's go...quickly," urged Tess. She was sick of the house and the only one who could fight the ghosts was Dolly. She didn't like not being able to beat the crap out of someone.

"Yeah," agreed Jackson.

"Pansies—the both of you are freakin' pansies!" Dolly insisted.

"Are not!" protested Tess. "I'm not a flipping pansy! He is!" She pointed a finger at Jackson.

Jackson growled and started a yelling match with Tess. Dolly rolled her eyes and ended up having to pry them both apart. Jackson had his hands around Tess's throat and she was punching, smacking, and kicking him. He apparently had not yet learned not to mess with the redhead.

"Let me at him!" screamed Tess as Dolly held her back for a moment.

"No! God damnit, you two! You act like three-year-old children!" hissed Dolly, still holding Tess back.

"Now, will you cooperate until we get out of here, please?"

Jackson glared at Tess and Tess narrowed her eyes at Jackson.

"Fine," Tess said. "But, he's mine as soon as we set foot on soil."

Dolly rolled her eyes. "Fine. But, for God's sake, grow up!" She looked over her shoulder, at the drowsy Jackal, who was rubbing his face. "And let's go before more trouble happens." She hurried Tess and Jackson out of the corner and down the hall, continuously looking over her shoulder.

As soon as they reached the minefield of glass outside the house, Tess turned around and slugged Jackson and began cursing at him.

Jackson's blue eyes flashed and he hit her back. Apparently, no one ever taught him to not hit girls, even though Tess was as foul-mouthed as most guys and generally hung out with them. She could fend for herself, even though she was admittedly shocked at his retaliation.

"You did not just hit me, did you?" questioned Tess in a mix of wonder and shock.

"Um, I hate to interrupt, but your party is over," called Dolly.

Tess and Jackson turned around and froze when they noticed the ghosts exited the remains of the glass house. They gulped; exchange looks, and ran at warp speed for Dolly's car.

Dolly looked at them. "No, not my car!" she yelled running after them. She pulled out her car key and locked the doors, before stopping in front of it. She looked through the windshield, and shrieked.

"Who the hell is in my car!"


	6. Rum War

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except the characters of Dolly and Tess, and what you might call a plot.

**Chapter Six: Rum War**

Tess looked up and Jackson stopped running. They exchanged another glance, and peeked in the windows of Dolly's little blue Bug. In the back seat lay a fairly drunken man, holding a bottle of rum. He looked around in a daze, then quickly jumped up, noticing the surrounding people.

"Is that Jack Sparrow?" Tess murmured, staring at the startled man. "Dolly, what's Jack doing in your car?"

"How the hell would I know? I didn't put him there!" cried Dolly.

"Sure, he appeared out of thin air, just like Jackson," said Tess sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Dolly. Jackson snorted, which earned him a glare from Dolly.

"What?" asked Jackson, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not in your car, now am I?"

"True, but you're still not off the hook—neither of you are," replied Dolly, glaring at them both, silently reprimanding them for their antics.

Tess cursed under her breath. It figured. Jack Sparrow showed up, probably drunk as a skunk, and she was the one about to get yelled at. Life sucked, especially since she was older than Dolly, though the other woman towered over her.

Dolly unlocked the door, and slowly opened the door. She pushed the seat back and cringed at the smell of alcohol. "Okay, Jack Sparrow, out of my car. Now!" She pointed towards Tess and Jackson.

The drunken man blinked and looked at them.

"Who the bloody Devil are you?" he said slightly slurred.

"Does it matter? Out!" she hissed, and Jack did as he was told, stumbling out the car.

Tess blinked and looked at Jack. "Free rum!" she squealed, grabbing the bottle and running. Well, she didn't really know where she was running, she just ran.

Dolly cursed. "Tess!" she yelled, but Tess kept running. "Jackson, go get her," she sighed and rubbed her nose. Jackson looked at Dolly.

"Can I have some rum if I do?"

"Fine. Just... go..." Jackson grinned and ran after Tess.

Dolly shook her head and shut the car door and walked over to her trunk to open it. She grabbed her bag of clothes and set it on the ground. She grabbed another bag and shut the trunk, and picked up her clothes bag. She looked around, not seeing Jackson or Tess, and walked towards the house.

Jack looked around woozily. "Why's the rum gone?" he whined.

* * *

"No! It's _my_ rum!" cried Tess, protecting the bottle of rum from Jackson.

"Tess, give me the rum," coaxed Jackson.

"No!"

"Fine," said Jackson with a smirk before he picked Tess up and carried her, kicking and screaming, back to the Bug.

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" she cursed. "That's after I barf on your suit!"

"Will you shut up?"

"Will you put me down with my rum? I need it more than you do!"

"No, I need it more. Trust me."

"Will you PLEASE put me down before I get sick? Or would you seriously like me to barf all over your clothes?" Tess questioned, her stomach all odd.

"Fine, but you are sharing that rum with me," said Jackson, giving in and setting Tess down on her feet, yet keeping a firm grip on her.

"Better us than Jack," agreed Tess, not noticing the shiver that accompanied the mention of 'Jack'. It was common knowledge that he hated that nickname.

"Yeah."

Tess leaned on Dolly's Bug, and looked around. "Where'd Dolly go?" she asked, glancing at Jackson, who only shrugged in reply.

"Inside, maybe?" he replied.

Tess shook her head. "Screw that. I'm not going back in there." She looked down at her rum and grinned. "Rum..." she squealed, then looked at the Bug. She pushed the bottle into Jackson's hands and scurried over to the driver's side and opened the door.

"Tess, what're you doing?" he asked, watching her quizzically.

"Gettin' something." She popped the trunk and walked over, opening it. She searched around, and popped her head up, eyes narrowed. "My jelly beans aren't here..." she said angrily.

"Jelly beans? What the hell do jelly beans have to do with anything?" questioned Jackson.

"Damn Dolly! She hid them all again!"

"Why would she do that?"

"To prevent me from getting hyper," explained Tess, glaring at Jackson, accusing him of having something to do with the disappearance of her favorite candy.

"O..kay," said Jackson, before taking a swig from the bottle of rum.

"Hey! That's my rum!" cried the redhead, launching herself at the slightly taller man. Jackson grinned and held the bottle over her head.

"Not anymore, jelly bean freak."

"Did you just call me a freak? This is coming from the guy who had a fucking Frankenstein pen sticking out of his throat!"

"Hey!" slurred Jackson; the small amount of rum he had drank already beginning to affect him. "I didn't do it!"

"Give me the rum!"

"No!" hissed Jackson. "Never!"

"Jack!" screamed Tess. "Captain Jack Sparrow! Someone stole your rum!"

Though Captain Jack was drunk, he shot up and looked around. "Me rum! Someone has me rum! WHERE!" He slowly stood up, leaning on the small car for support. "Where's me rum?" He looked around, and spotted Jackson.

"Yeah!" Tess cried. "Your rum! Over here!" She jumped and pointed at Jackson.

Jackson wobbled a bit. "What? Stole it?" he slurred in question. "She stole it first!"

"I don't care!" Captain Jack growled, "I want me rum!"

"Give him the rum, Jackson," Tess ordered, peering at the drunk manager.

"I want me rum!" cried Captain Jack, starting to act just a little bit more insane.

"No..." whimpered Jackson, clinging tightly to the bottle. "It's mine now."

"ARGH!" Captain Jack collided with Jackson, fighting with him over the rum bottle that Tess plucked from their hands.

"Thank you!" Tess called to no one in particular before making a break for it.

Jackson yanked her foot out from under her, bringing her crashing down to the ground. She swore vehemently under her breath.

* * *

Dolly ventured back into the remains of the house, looking around for any of the ghosts. She shrugged and turned down a hall, and walked up a flight of stairs. Looking around again, she turned down another hall and into what looked like a bedroom, with items scattered all over. She set her stuff on the ground, and walked over to the bed, gingerly brushing the glass off of it.

Dolly looked up at the commotion outside. "Jesus Christ," she murmured, picking her bags up and sitting them on the bed. "Those two are loud mouths." She reached into the food bag and pulled out a bag of jelly beans, smirking.

Dolly shook her head and sat on the bed. She opened the bag of jelly beans, picking out the ones she liked, and setting the ones she didn't like aside. She continued to munch away, unaware that Ryan was in the room. He reached over, picking a jelly bean from her 'not liked' pile. He looked at it oddly, then at Dolly.

"What's this?" he asked, and Dolly blinked, looking at him.

"Hm?" She looked surprised to see the ghost.

"What's this thing you're eating?" He continue to ponder the interesting shaped food.

"Oh, it's a jelly bean. Candy," she nodded, "They're good. Try one!" She gave him her quirky little smile, and he shrugged, popping it into his mouth. "Good, huh?"

He nodded and grinned, before sitting on the bed, trying another bean.

* * *

On the other hand, Tess, Jackson, and Captain Jack hadn't really solved their predicament.

Tess reached for the bottle, wailing at it. Captain Jack stopped and looked at his rum bottle, eyes widening.

"Me rum!" he cried joyfully, dashing to it. Jackson growled.

"That's my rum, damnit!" he snarled, lunging for it.

Tess yelped and grabbed the bottle, but being the clumsy one, it slipped from her thin fingers and spilled all over the ground. Jackson looked at her, unblinking.

"You... spilled the... rum!" His sharp blue eyes narrowed, and went to grab his knife, but it wasn't there. He roared in anger, "DOLLY!"

Captain Jack stood, mouth gaped open. "Me... rum's gone...? No, not me rum!"

Tess stood and grabbed the bottle, drinking the last bit, before throwing it to the ground and running like a bat from hell, hoping to escape the enraged men.

Tess could not afford to let them catch her. Thank god she was pretty fast at running when she needed to be. Jackson might be drunk, but if he caught her, he would still manage to kill her. Captain Jack Sparrow was extremely likely to strangle her as well.

"DOLLY! HELP!" she screamed as she ran into the shattered remains of the glass house, heels sounding loudly as she ran. She could hear Jackson and Captain Jack behind her.

"What the hell do you want?" Dolly yelled out, voice carrying in the empty house, annoyed.

"HELP! Jackson and Jack are after me!"

Dolly closed her eyes, and shook her head. "Care to join me?" she asked, looking at Ryan. She watched the ghost nod. She smiled and reached over, patting the top of his cage, since she couldn't reach his head. "Okay, then we shall resume the jelly bean eating until later, and save Tess's ass." She stood up, Ryan following her lead.


	7. Stupidity is Your Enemy

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except the characters of Dolly and Tess, and what you might call a plot.

**Chapter Seven: Stupidity is Your Enemy…**

Tess ran like a chicken with its head chopped off. She didn't know where she was going, but hell; it'd be harder for the two drunks to find her. She stopped and leaned on a metal panel, panting, before a noise caught her attention. She hoped to God that it wasn't Jackson and Jack. No. It wasn't. It was the voice of a female, and a male. It couldn't be those idiots.

* * *

Dolly looked around as she walked. "Tess? You in here?" she called, her brows furrowing as she frowned. Ryan walked next to her, glancing around too, but for different reasons.

"Dolly!" Tess called out, hearing her friend's voice.

She continued running, despite the pain in her legs and the burning in her lungs. Dolly could not be too far away. Tess turned a corner and her feet flew out from under her, tossing her to the ground, as she slid on a shard of glass.

She hit the ground hard and slipped across a fallen panel. She slid from the panel to the outside wall of the house. Her legs swung from the panel and dangled out into the open, where there was a ways to fall to the glass-covered ground. Tess desperately grabbed on to the framework of the house, clinging to the metal for dear life, ignoring the cuts the sharp metal was making into the injured palms of her hands.

"HELP!" she screamed, no longer caring who found her, as long as someone found her before she lost her grip. If they pulled her up, it did not matter.

* * *

Jackson's logic was starting to somewhat come back. The rum was starting to wear off slightly, or he was getting stronger. He was not sure which one, but it did not really matter to him.

He heard Tess's cry and stopped being sneaky. There was no sense in being sneaky when your prey was in danger. At least that's what it sounded like.

"HELP!"

His pace quickened; hearing the urgency in her voice. Something was seriously wrong.

His feet slipped slightly as he turned a corner and he noticed that he was standing on a glass panel covered in what looked to be Latin. He slowly walked across it and his bright blue eyes caught sight of two pale hands gripping the outside edge.

"HELP!" screamed Tess, right below him.

Jackson almost fell across the panel and joined her in hanging there, due to his surprise. He shook it off though and reached his hand out and clasped one of her wrists.

"You can stop screaming now," he hissed, eardrums throbbing.

* * *

"This way!" Dolly grabbed one of Ryan's long straight jacket sleeves and tugged him along, winding through the house. The two ended up under Tess, who was now kicking her feet viciously, cursing loudly. "What the hell are you doing, Tess?" she yelled, only to notice Jackson. She glared at him, and grabbed Tess' feet. "Calm down and stop kicking," she said, "And let go Jackson!"

"No!" Tess wailed, shaking her head.

Jackson shrugged. "Fine," he slowly let go of her wrist, watching her claw frantically at the glass.

"No, Jackson! Please!" she cried, shaking her head quickly.

Jackson looked and smirked, shrugging again. "You spilled my rum." He let go of her wrist, watching Tess shriek and cry.

Tess stiffened, preparing to fall on the glass shards and ground. But, she didn't. Instead, she landed in someone's arms, though she couldn't imagine who. She looked at Dolly's wide-eyed expression, then around, noticing she was floating in mid-air. Slowly and gingerly, she was put down on the ground.

"Jackson... your ass... is mine..."

Jackson did not seem to hear her voice. The dark-haired manager had already disappeared.

Tess growled low in her throat and turned to face her rescuer, preparing to thank them, only to find that there was no one standing there. She was alone—or at least she appeared to be.

"Dolly?" she whimpered in fear, slowly heading towards her friend. "What caught me?"

"Where are your glasses? Did you lose them again?" Dolly questioned, purposefully avoiding answering her question.

"Yea, somewhere between fighting with dumb and dumber and dangling from the house..." Tess said, rolling her eyes. Like she was really going to keep an eye on those dumb glasses.

Dolly rolled her eyes and knelt down on the floor. She felt something placed on top of her head, and she frowned, slowly reaching up, grabbing the glasses. "Keep them." she said, stuffing them in Tess' hand.

Tess frowned and looked at them. "God, why? They're just a pair of stu-" she trailed off, directing her attention to the glasses. She wiped them off with her shirt, and slowly lifted them up to look through the lenses. "See, Dolly? No ghosts!" She twirled around, only to catch Ryan's yellowish stare. "SHIT!"

She grabbed Dolly, eyes nearly popping out of her head.

Dolly shook her head. "You have your answer."

"He caught me!"

"Yes," Ryan replied. He pouted. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Tess looked stunned. Very stunned. Slowly, she reached up, pulling the glasses off her face. "I'm gonna hold onto these..."

* * *

"Where's the rum?" Jack called out, drunk as a skunk, as he wandered around.

"It's gone, Jack, now get over it," Jackson said to the drunk pirate, glaring at him. "The rum's gone."

"Why's the rum gone?"

Jackson sighed. Dealing with drunken pirates was almost as annoying as dealing with uncooperative management victims.

"She broke it, remember? Tess broke the rum bottle!" Jackson found himself screaming.

"Why'd she do that?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I'm not inside her head."

"I thought you two were friends. Oh well... Where's the rum?" Jack Sparrow tripped away. Jackson shook his head in disgust as he heard him singing 'Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me' in the distance.

Like he was going to be friends with the annoying woman who's iPod he had stolen and was currently hiding in his pocket. She had broken the rum bottle and ended all the drinking. She was no friend of his. Her friend had also stolen his knife—which he desperately wanted back.

"Dolly! I want my knife back! Give it back to me!" he cried, racing out of the glass house in search of the tall blonde.

Dolly had found herself being clung to by Ryan and Tess, one on each arm. Tess was looking around, careful not to trip or fall through anything else. Ryan, well, he was being Ryan. Dolly sighed and shook her head, before hearing Jackson yelling for her. She clenched her teeth, and looked over her shoulder, searching for the insane Jackson.

Ryan glanced at Dolly, frowning a bit. "What's wrong?" he asked, turning his face towards her.

"Hm? Oh, the crazy assassin manager wants his knife back." she let go of Ryan's arm, patting her back pocket.

"You still have that?" Tess asked, finally speaking.

"Uhuh," Dolly nodded, "And I'm not going to give it back anytime soon." She grabbed Ryan's arm again and smiled.

"DOLLY! YOU STUPID BLONDE BITCH! GIVE ME THE DAMNED KNIFE!" Jackson roared from behind, lunging towards Dolly.

Ryan turned around, growling, lifting his sharp nails up. He ushered the two girls to go, who did instantly. He noticed that Jackson didn't have glasses; he smirked, and giggled softly, which stopped Jackson.

"The hell?"

* * *

Jack had run into Dolly and Tess, asking them about the rum. Of course, they got fed up and yelled at him.

"We don't have any!" The two yelled, eyes narrowed.

Jack pouted and walked away, in search of the rum. He knew he had a spare bottle in the little blue thing outside, but he couldn't reach the little blue thing.

"So, what do we do now?" Tess questioned, after they yelled at Jack.

"Um..." Dolly replied hesitantly, thinking.

"You don't know. O..kay then. Why do you still have Jackson's knife and why hasn't he hunted you down yet?" Tess said. She had not been paying close attention when Jackson starting screaming at

Dolly and they began running. She had still unnerved that Ryan had caught her.

"Um, it's shiny and I like it. It's mine! Besides, Ryan's taking care of him..."

Tess spun around, calling back over her shoulder to Dolly, "But he'll kill him! He'll kill Jackson!"

"So?" Dolly asked. What was wrong with that?


	8. Rum is Your Friend

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except the characters of Dolly and Tess, and what you might call a plot.

**Chapter Eight: …Rum is Your Friend**

Jackson collided with the sharp nails of Ryan.

"What the fuck?" he wondered out loud. There was no one there, yet he could feel the nails on his skin, leaving trails.

Jackson made a move to run past whatever was in his way, but found himself being stopped again. He growled. "Damnit." He was starting to get ticked.

Ryan twirled glasses through his fingers, which seem to float in mid-air to Jackson. "I think you'll need these." Ryan said, holding them out, which Jackson slowly took and put on.

"Fuck!" he hissed, backing away from Ryan.

Tess looked over her shoulder, biting her lip. "We can't kill Jackson!" she cried, making a face.

Dolly shook her head. "He tried to kill you, remember? So, why should you care?"

Ryan smiled; preparing to strike Jackson before her heard Dolly.

"Come here, Ryan. I think Jackson's had enough abuse." Ryan did what he was told; trotting over to Dolly's side. Tess just stared at her.

"You're really messed up."

Jackson swore under his breath. Tess shot a glare in his direction. She could not believe that she had cared enough to keep Ryan from killing him.

A car alarm went off, breaking her train of thoughts.

"My bug!" screamed Dolly, before taking off towards her blue car, Ryan at her heels, smiling gleefully at the prospect of a new victim.

Tess and Jackson rolled their eyes at the two and shook their heads. It was probably only a dumb bird who made the mistake of landing on the car. Yet the way they were acting, you would think it was a matter of life and death.

Dolly ran through the halls, and outside, squealing about her Beetle. When she reached the car, she turned the alarm off, and looked around the car. Jack was pulling frantically at the door handle, cursing madly.

"What in God's name are you doing?" Dolly yelped, grabbing Jack's shirt and tugging at it.

Jack let go of the car, turning around. "Me rum!" he cried, pointing towards the car window. "Me rum's locked away!"

"And it'll stay that way." she replied, shaking her head.

Ryan made a face seeing that there was nothing to kill. He looked around again, watching a bird land on the car, which made him smile. Swiftly, but slyly, he grabbed the bird, looking down at it. But, the bird wasn't moving. Ryan's smile melted, and he sniffled, dropping the bird, and grabbing Dolly's arm.

"Wonder what it was," Tess said, looking towards Dolly.

"Bird, most likely."

"But what was Jack doing?"

"Trying to break in?" Jackson shrugged.

"Hm, maybe. Wait, why?"

"How should I know?"

"Do you think he has more rum?" Tess's pale lips turned into a smirk.

Jackson returned the smirk. "Of course. Why else would he be trying to break in?"

"True," Tess agreed, nodding her head. Jack Sparrow may be an idiot, but he would not try to break into a strange object without a reason.

"Should we?"

"Yep. I'll steal the keys," replied the redhead, taking Jackson's hint. She was pissed that she had missed out on the rum the first time around. She was not going to miss out again.

Dolly looked at Ryan. "What's wrong?" she asked, stuffing her keys in her front pocket.

Ryan pointed at the ground. "The bird.. It's dead..." he pouted, his bottom lip trembling.

Dolly patted the top of his cage. "It's okay, let's go in. It's getting dark. You too, Jack." They all turned towards the house.

Jackson and Tess watched, waiting to make their moves. Tess walked over to Dolly's side as she walked into the house, smiling. "Hey Dolly, could I borrow your keys?"

"For what?" Dolly asked.

"I need my clothes from the car."

Dolly rolled her eyes and pulled the keys out of her pocket, handing them to Tess.

"Wait... Tess..." But Tess was gone. She was running outside, Jackson waiting.

Tess unlocked the door via remote and both her and Jackson tore into the car, searching for the rum. Tess would of course maintain her cover by grabbing her clothes as well, but the rum was more important at that given time.

"I found it!" Jackson cried in triumph.

"Yes!" Tess celebrated, punching the air with a fist.

"Um, don't forget your stuff," Jackson reminded her as she went to lock the car.

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot," Tess said sheepishly, turning back to the car. As soon as her back was turned, Jackson was gone.

She grabbed her bags and called out, "Jackson?" She received no answer.

Dolly heard Tess and Jackson yelling. She frowned, glancing over at Ryan, who was just as confused. She thought for a moment, glancing at her car, then at Ryan. She smiled as a plan popped in her head.

"Hey Ryan, think you could find out what Tess and Jackson are up to?" She had that feeling that there was more than bottle of rum, and that one of them had it.

Ryan nodded. "Yep!" he said, grinning. Within a second, the insane ghost was gone, leaving Dolly in the glass house alone, besides drunken Jack.

Dolly looked around, making her way upstairs before it got dark. She sat on the bed, eating the jellybeans again. She pulled out a pair of pajama pants, obnoxiously big, fuzzy slippers, a black cami, and a short sleeve shirt which was too sizes too big for her. She looked around for anyone wandering ghosts, or drunken monkeys. When satisfied, she changed into her pajamas, and flopped her dirty clothes on the floor.

Tess stood motionless. "You... bastard!" she yelled furiously, looking for Jackson. She stormed towards the house, dragging her bag of clothes with her.

Ryan watched her pass by, blinking and furrowing his brows. He shrugged and continued on his merry way to find Jackson.

Jackson had run into the woods, happily hugging his bottle of rum. Nothing was going to keep him away from it now! He grinned and brought the bottle up to drink, but an invisible thing took it from his grasp. He wailed and reached for it as the bottle floated away. "My precious!" he cried, too drunk to chase after Ryan.

Ryan grinned. He was pleased with himself. He glanced at the bottle, slowly lifting the contents to his face. He sniffed the rum and made a face, lowering it again. He passed by Tess, who was having a fit about the rum. He giggled softly, which struck her attention.

"What was that...?" Tess slowly turned around, seeing the bottle floating in mid-air. She gasped and lunged for it, grabbing one side of it. "My rum! My wonderful rum!" She began to tug at it, only to notice that something was holding it back. The redhead growled, pulling harder. "Give me the rum!"

Ryan laughed when he released the bottle of rum after a particularly hard tug. Tess fell on her ass and tightly clutched the rum, worried that she would spill it like last time.

"That's not funny!" Tess yelled, before letting lose a string of curses.

"Yes it was," Ryan replied.

Tess made a face at Ryan and scooted her way from the ghost. She gripped the rum tightly, eyes narrowed angrily. "Was not," she grumbled, frowning.

Ryan shrugged. "Was to me."

She frowned deeply, standing up. She turned and stormed off, warily looking around. The redhead reached the woods quickly, running in without a care. She sat down next to a large tree, popping off the top of the rum. She took a quick drink, grinning happily. Nothing would ruin these few minutes of pure bliss.

Jackson paced around, blue eyes blazing. He wanted that rum, and he wanted it now! He stopped, leaning on a nearby tree, looking around for that damned redhead woman. He couldn't believe he lost the rum because of her. With an angry sigh, he shoved a hand into his hair and sunk down to the ground. His face twisted with a frown and his eyes narrowed. "God damnit." he growled, his hands clenching into fists.

Ryan disappeared into the house, which was now dark inside. He made his way around building without much difficulty; maybe tripping over some unknown object or two. He heard Capt. Jack's obnoxiously loud song, which made him wince. He trotted around some more, reaching the stairs and climbing them, and walking around until he found Dolly, who had a throw wrapped around her.

"I found Tess," he said, watching Dolly turn towards him, "But she still has the rum."

"What about Jackson?"

Ryan shrugged. "I dunno."

Dolly made a face, then sighed, "Well, they can't stay out there all night."

In the distance, Jackson could hear some type of music. For a brief moment he thought that he had accidentally turned on the iPod that he had stolen from Tess, but a quick glance at the small screen assured him that it was not the iPod. It was a voice--singing and sometimes humming.

A voice that sounded an awful lot like Tess. He could not make out the words, but it was clearly her voice. She was drunk and off-key, but there was no mistaking that voice.

Jackson jogged towards her voice and casually leaned against a nearby tree, blue eyes staring down at the drunken redhead. A few minutes later, she paused in her singing to take another swig from the bottle of rum and noticed him.

"Oh, it's you," she remarked, wobbling a little, even though her butt was firmly seated upon the ground.

"Just me."

"Want some?" Tess offered, holding up the bottle. "Peace?"

"For now," Jackson muttered under his breath as he accepted the bottle.

Dolly could hear singing too. Slowly, she moved from her warm little place on the bed and walked over to see who was singing. She knew it wasn't Jack; his voice was deeper than that. And she knew it wasn't Jackson; he would never sing. So, it had to be Tess. She peered towards the woods, raising a brow as she saw two silhouettes sitting by a tree. Most likely Jackson and Tess.

Ryan slowly walked up behind her, resting his mauled hands on her shoulders and leaned over her.

"Who's singing?" he asked, looking towards her, then at the woods.

"Tess."

"With the rum?"

"Yep."

"She sounds drunk."

"Yep. That doesn't surprise me either." She glanced back at Ryan, making a face, before looking back outside. "And Lord is she going to be a hung over bitch tomorrow."

Ryan chuckled at the blonde's comment and nodded a bit. "It happens."

Jackson had ended up on the ground next to Tess, holding the rum bottle as tightly as he could; though it kept slipping from his hands. He was swaying slowly, occasionally taking a swig of rum. He was beginning to hum to himself, eyes slowly glazing over from the rum.

Tess tugged the bottle from Jackson's hold, earning a small whine from the man, but nothing else. She took another large gulp of the rum, her singing beginning to start again. But the words were muttered and inaudible and her voice would fade away frequently. After another drink, she pushed the bottle back into Jackson's arms.

It didn't take long until both Jackson and Tess fell over in a dead sleep, Jackson's arms loosely wrapped around the empty bottle. Tess was partially curled up, her back resting against the tree. My, what a fun morning to be.


	9. Hangover

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except the characters of Dolly and Tess, and what you might call a plot.

**Chapter Nine: Hangover**

Tess woke up with a pounding headache, as the world would just not stop spinning.

"Fuck, it hurts," she cursed, massaging her sore head and closing her eyes. She was going to throw-up. It was only a matter of time.

She tried to stand, but easily tipped over and landed upon her knees in the dew-covered grass. She moaned and tried to crawl towards where the house was. Her stomach decided at that moment that it would hold the rum no longer.

Tess vomited on to a nearby patch of grass and began to feel better, until she heard a disgusted voice to her side. She blinked several times and the dizzy image of a tipsy Jackson came into view.

Was that a smile on his face?

"Can't hold your liquor?" Jackson teased, looking down at her.

"Look who's talking. You can barely stand," retorted Tess, not wanting to get into this argument.

"At least I'm standing," scowled Jackson, before falling over and barely missing the vomit upon the ground.

"Not anymore," snorted Tess.

"Are we even yet?"

"Not even close."

* * *

Dolly woke up slowly, completely covered by blankets. She frowned and poked her head from the sheets, looking around. Ryan was curled up in a chair, sleeping soundly. She could hear Tess and Jackson outside and decided it was a good idea to leave them alone for a while. She glanced at Ryan again, who was beginning to stretch out. "Ryan?"

"Hnn?" he asked, yawning.

"Oh, okay, you're awake." Dolly's voice had a hint of sleepiness.

"Yep," he nodded, "And so are you."

"Oh joy." She sat up in the bed and shook her head. "Do you know how I got under the blankets, Ryan?"

The ghost shrugged and stood up, then walked over the bed and flopped on it. He sighed into the covers, closing his eyes.

Dolly shook her head and crawled over to him, poking his back. "You're s'posed to stay awake, silly."

* * *

Tess and Jackson continued to sit there, not talking, but their eyes showed the intense anger built up in them. Tess' eyes were narrowed as she watched the glass house silently. Jackson just sat there, watching Tess with revenge. A slow, vicious smirk grew on his face, and his blue eyes flickered. Yes, revenge was so much fun.

Tess felt her stomach grumble from hunger and she sighed to herself. Where was she going to find food? Sure as hell she wasn't going into that house again. But, everything was in there. She closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Damnit, damnit, damnit!

If only she had the keys to the Bug... then she could drive away and find food. Or look in the car for food. Didn't she have food in her bag?

Yes...she did. Her brother had always teased her for bringing food with her. Not that she could help it. Hunger struck her at the worst times. Like now.

"Fuck this," she groaned, standing up and wobbling on her feet. She was starving! She didn't care how sick she got from the hangover--she was going to go find her bag and her food.

Tess started to walk away, and Jackson smiled evily as she passed him. He stuck out his foot and Tess tripped and fell face-first into the dewy, smelly grass.

"Jackson! I swear, I'm gonna kill you!" she screamed, turning around to glare at the dark haired man. She let out a string of foul language that made Jackson grimace. Her cursing often had that affect on people. Her brother had taught her how to curse worse than a sailor, adding to her already foul mouth.

"What?" Jackson asked innocently.

"You bloody well know what!" she hissed, an accent creeping into her voice. When she was upset or stressed, one of her many accents came into play.

Jackson couldn't help but smile.


	10. Men and Food

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except the characters of Dolly and Tess, and what you might call a plot.

**Chapter Ten: Men and Food**

Dolly looked up and shook her head. "Will those two ever shut up?" She rolled off the bed and reached into the bag of food. She walked towards the used-to-be-glass wall and yelled out, "Hey Tess!" She stopped for a moment, as both Tess and Jackson turned towards her. "Want something to eat?"

Ryan was now plopped on the floor, rummaging through the food bag. He made a face when there was nothing in there to his liking, and stood up, walking over to Dolly. "What'cha yelling about?" he asked, looking at her, then towards Tess and Jackson.

Tess looked at Dolly, eyes narrowed. "I have my food," she yelled back.

"You don't have the car keys, or your bag. So, do you want food?"

"Fine," she hissed, her eyebrows furrowing. She glared at Jackson, and wobbly stood again. A mass of light yellow was flung towards her, which she barely caught. She looked at it; a hunny bun. She shrugged and began to walk away. Hell, it was better than nothing.

Jackson watched her, then looked towards Dolly. Where was his food? Then he decided; those two women despised the male race.

Tess noticed Jackson glaring at her. She sighed and then tore off a piece of the sticky hunny bun.

"Hey!" she called and chucked the piece of food at him. Jackson caught it and stared at it rather oddly, as if he wasn't sure what it was. "You can eat. It won't kill you!"

"Sure..." Jackson rolled his blue eyes. He would not put it past Tess to poison his food. She had made her dislike towards him well known. Not that he hadn't done the same.

But he wasn't sure that he hated her. He enjoyed bickering with her and annoying her, but he wasn't sure that hate was the right word.

He watched the redhead inhale the remains of the hunny bun and then lick her slender fingers free of all the stickys. He snorted and shook his head. She sure was a strange one. Sometimes, he could swear that she was a teenager or younger than that.

Dolly shook her head and pulled out two more honey buns. "Jackson!" she yelled, tossing one at him, which he caught awkwardly. The other one, she opened and began to nibble on.

Ryan watched her eat the delicious looking hunny bun, unmoving and unblinking. Man, it looked really good.

"Um, yes?" Dolly asked, snapping Ryan back into reality.

"Oh, ehe, just, watching?" He grinned sheepishly.

Dolly just shook her head and tugged off a piece of the bun for him. Of course Ryan took it from her fingers and stuffed it in his mouth, beaming at her. Dolly shook her head and looked outside again. She began to wonder if maybe things would start to lighten up.

Dolly handed the rest of the hunny bun to Ryan, who squealed gleefully. Just like Jackson, he stuffed his face, beaming happily. "Fwank jou!" (Thank you) he mumbled, then made a face.

Dolly just shook her head. "Welcome Ryan," she replied, leaning on the glass, watching Jackson and Tess. She sighed gently, slowly sliding down and sitting on the glass floor. She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Hey, Ryan, why are you here? I mean, you didn't die here, did you?"

The ghosts shook his head, then walked over and sat down next to her. By then, he had finished the hunny bun and wiped his face off. "No," he started, watching Dolly glance towards him. "I was captured in his cell thing, where I couldn't get out." He traced a long nail across the floor next to her. "This glass has some kind of spells that kept us-"

"Us?"

"Yes, there were twelve ghosts in all. You met Royce already."

Dolly made a small face. "Let me guess, the torn up guy with the baseball bat."

"Mmhm." He nodded.

"So, continue." She smiled and urged him on.

"Okay, so we couldn't get by the glass. The spells kept us in one place until the house shifted."

"This place moves? Damn."

"Well, it did. I remember a family planning to move here. Well, they didn't, as you can see."

"Yeah. So, what happened to the house? I mean, did it blow up?"

"Yep," he nodded, "then we walked off, never to return again. But, it's kind of hard and not return. Wouldn't you want to see if anyone found this place?"

Dolly shook her head. "We did." She smiled.

"Yep, you did."

* * *

Jackson unwrapped the hunny bun and shoved the entire thing in his mouth. He heard a snort from nearby and spotted Tess leaning up against a tree.

"What?" he mumbled, his mouth full of food.

"Hungry much? You're acting like a pig," Tess remarked, pointing out the mess that he was making by trying to eat the hunny bun all at once. Small pieces of the bun had fallen and become stuck to his usually immaculate suit jacket. His face was covered in goo from the bun. "And you look like one too."

Jackson glared at her and she shot him a smirk before sticking her tongue out and rolling her multi-colored eyes.

"Do you always enjoy annoying people this much?" Jackson questioned, once he finished the hunny bun and was trying to wipe the crumbs from his jacket and clean his face.

"No, just you," Tess said before walking away, or more accurately stumbling away--she had injured her ankle at some point and it was killing her.

She was a strange woman. Very strange.


	11. INTERMISSION!

**Out of Place**

**Disclaimer:** See author's note.

**INTERMISSION!**

**Murphy's author's note:** Whoo! Intermission time! After about a month of waiting. Heh. Again, we don't own any characters, except for Dolly, Tess, and Emily. x3 Intermission is dedicated to our friend Emily, who has been waiting (slightly) impatiently for this.

**BregoBeauty's author's note:** So sorry that it took so _very _long to get this part up! Life took hold and then the site was down. I apologize profoundly for the lateness. Enjoy and please review. :)

* * *

It was early morning, birds chirping with their sickening sweet tunes. Nothing stirred, except for a dazed blonde woman. She yawned, looking around the room, before sitting up and stretching out her arms. No one else was in the room, but something told her that it wasn't going to last much longer.

Loud hoof beats echoed thought the woods, chasing away all of the furry little woodland animals. Then, an even louder shriek. Then yelling. What was going on?

Dolly raised a brow. As her instincts planned, Tess, Jackson, and Ryan rushed up into her room and huddled up on the bed. "What's going on?" she asked.

"There's people on black horses and they're in black, and they have swords-"

"Jackson, you're babbling," Tess said, cutting into Jackson's sentence. "What he's _trying_ to say is that there's Nazguls in the woods."

"What're Nazguls?" Ryan asked curiously.

"They're from a book." Tess replied. "It came out after you died."

"Oh."

"Anyway, what the hell are they doing here?" Dolly said, annoyance growing her voice.

"How're we s'posed to know?" Tess retorted.

As the two women began to argue and yell, Jackson slowly stood, walking to the open wall. There was a tall brunette trying to open a door on Dolly's car.

"Hey... Dolly?"

Tess and Dolly continued to bicker at each other.

"Dolly!"

"What!" The blonde hissed, finally turning to look at Jackson.

"Someone's breaking into your car."

Dolly's eyes went wide. "What! Who!" She quickly stood up and scurried over to Jackson's side. She frowned, catching a look at the woman's face, which made her fall silent. "Tess, c'mere really quick."

"What is it?" The other woman asked, standing up to walk over to Dolly and Jackson.

Dolly pointed to the woman outside. "Is that... Emily...?" But before Tess could catch a peek at the person, a group of inhuman, shrieking creatures on dark horses ran by, just passing the little car. But when they passed, the woman wasn't there. She was gone. Just like that.

The group stood there, blinking. They were speechless. Where did she go? Dolly was the first to speak.

"Tess, where did they come from?"

"I don't know."

"Well, why're we all still standing here? Let's go find that woman!" Dolly exclaimed, slipping passed the three.

"Wait, wait! Dolly!" Tess ran after her, leaving Jackson and Ryan. The men looked at each other, then shrugged, bolting after the girls to yet another probably insane adventure.

* * *

The 'disappearing' woman shifted in the trunk of the Beetle, feeling around for an escape handle, or something that would get her out of there. She frowned, making an annoyed sound. Those damned black things got her in there, and now she couldn't get out!

Someone was coming; she could hear them. She fell silent, curling up in a ball. She stared at the window above her; greenish-brown eyes unblinking. Then what she had been waiting for happened. The trunk popped open.

Dolly carefully opened the trunk door and gasped. She looked at the woman in her trunk.

"Emily?"

"Dolly?" The woman in the trunk quickly sat up.

"Emily! How'd you get in there?" Tess was just a bit slow on the intake.

"I opened the trunk, because I didn't know what that button was. Then those -things- pushed me in here and shut the trunk." Emily said, pouting and crossing her thin arms over her chest.

"Explains why you disappeared."

"Yup." Tess nodded. "But, how'd you get here? And why're you here?"

"Well, my car broke down over there." By now, Emily had stepped from the car. She pointed towards the end of the driveway. "I came down to find you two."

"Why?" Tess questioned.

"I couldn't reach your cell phones and so I got worried."

"Ah."

"So," she grinned her usual grin. "What'cha doing here?"

"Uhm," she blinked. "Stuff?" She looked around. "Hey, where's Jackson and Ryan?"

"Who?" Emily blinked.

Tess frowned a bit. She forgot that Emily didn't know who Jackson and Ryan were. "They're just...friends...of ours." she said, shrugging. "But they seemed to have disappeared."

Emily gave Tess an odd look. "Whatever you say," she said, shaking her head. "So, do I get to meet these two guys?"

"Yeah, you will." She looked around, bluish-silver eyes narrowing. "Now where's Dolly?"

"Maybe she went to go find them?"

"Maybe."

* * *

"Hmm," Jackson muttered as he walked around the car, taking a good look at it. This car could very well be his ticket back to civilization—and sanity.

He tried the driver's door handle. It easily opened and allowed him in. Unfortunately, there were no keys in the ignition, under the mat, tucked in the visor, or anywhere in the car.

Jackson sighed and then remembered that part of his assassination management training had included a lesson on stealing cars. He bent down under the dashboard and steering wheel, reaching for the wires. Using his knife, he cut them and then tied the proper wires together, twisting the metal wire into place. The car started up and he smiled.

Oh, yeah, he was good.

He got back into the driver's seat and clicked the seatbelt into place. He was not the world's best driver—he wasn't the worst either—but he was kind of crazy. He did not really feel like ending up the hospital if he just so happened to get in an accident. Not that there was any cars anywhere remotely nearby.

Gleefully, Jackson pressed the gas after placing the car in reverse. The car zoomed backwards, then suddenly died with a violent noise. His blue eyes were wide in shock as he realized that his escape plan was shot to hell.

"Nooo…" he whimpered, before beating his dark-haired head against the steering wheel. "Why me?"

Shrieks filled the air as the Nazguls filed past, chasing a Hobbit wearing a pink filly apron. He glanced up for a moment, told himself he was delusional and started to beat his head again.

A sharp rapping on the window stopped him and he turned his head to face a pissed trio of women, Tess in front.

He was one dead, former assassination manager.

* * *

"Jackson!" Tess screamed. "Get your ass out of Emily's car!" 

Jackson meekly climbed out of the car, where immediately Tess smacked him upside the head. She was scowling and furious.

Emily cried, "My car!" and rushed to check on it.

"Smooth move, Jackson," remarked Dolly.

Jackson shot the blonde a withering look and received a second solid smack from Tess. The short redhead then placed her hands on her hips and stared at him.

"What the hell were you thinking, _jack_ass?" Tess hissed.

"Um, I wasn't?" He tried to play innocent.

"Liar!" Emily yelled from her car.

"Why, I should—" Tess began, then Jackson cut her off with a kiss.

"EWWWW!" screamed Dolly, Emily, and Ryan in disgust. The Nazguls stopped their chasing game and stared with their jaws dropped and mouths open.

Tess and Jackson just smirked.


	12. Stalker Jackson

**Disclaimer: **  
Again, we don't own anything, 'cept for Tess, Dolly, and Raven.

**Chapter Eleven: Stalker Jackson**

Tess stumbled deeper into the woods, cursing her favorite boots. It was extremely painful to walk and her twisted ankle did not help matters. She had a beat-up pair of Addias sneakers somewhere in her bag. Provided that her bag was even still in the woods.

Her pace quickened at the sight of the navy blue duffle bag with white trim. Jackpot!

A hole appeared out of nowhere, and Tess, being the klutz that she was, fell into it.

"Fuck," she cursed, rubbing her head where it had struck a tree. "This is really not my day."

Dolly was out of the house now, dressed, and following after Tess. She strolled past Tess, leisurely picking up the bag. "Looking for this?"

Tess frowned, dragging her foot out of the whole. "Yes, now give it to me." She reached out for the back, not fully standing yet.

Dolly rolled her eyes and tossed the bag, which landed just an inch from Tess' reach. "Oops, my bad." She shrugged and walked off, humming softly.

Tess cursed loudly, clawing at the bad. "You'll pay, damnit!" she yelled at Dolly, slowly standing up. She limped to the bag, bending down and picking it up, before flopping on the ground and searching for her shoes. She quickly unzippered her bloody boots and kicked them off, wiggling her feet around.

"What's that smell?"

"Shut up, Jackson!"

"Why? You're killing me!" Jackson smirked.

Tess glared at him and chucked a boot at his head. He ducked in the nick of time, which infuriated the red-head.

"Damn, I missed," Tess fake smiled as she slipped her sneakers--and to Jackson's immense relief--a clean pair of socks from the duffle bag.

She switched shoes and socks and jammed one boot back into the bag. "Give me my boot back," she demanded of Jackson, pointing at the black boot near him.

Jackson looked from her to the boot. "That? You can't be serious."

"Why not?"

"It smells so...funky," said the dark-haired manager, before he pinched his nose closed in disgust. But he was unable to hide the smirk on his face.

"Get lost!" she screamed and he disappeared before she could do something far worse than throw a stinky boot at his head.

Tess sighed and collected the boot herself before zipping the bag shut. As she stood up to leave, she crashed into something solid. It was a person.

Well, that 'person' was someone she surely didn't know. And probably didn't want to know. She slowly looked up, meeting eye contact with a complete stranger. Sea-green eyes seem to bore into Tess' blue-ish green ones. She didn't blink, didn't move, didn't say a word, just watched the tall man with his pale face and jet black hair cascading down his shoulders, and stopping at the middle of his back. "Uhm," she swallowed. "Hi?"

"Hello," the male said, glancing up from Tess' eyes. He glanced around for a moment, frowning to himself. "Do you know where we are?" He looked down at Tess again.

She shrugged. "Somewhere in Canada (correct me if I'm wrong)." she replied, shrugging. She was quick to regain herself after an embarrassing moment. Like that one. "So, uh, where'd you come from? I mean, I don't see any cars... besides Dolly's Beetle."

The man just shook his head. "That's not important," he replied, looking towards the little blue car. He ushered Tess to the side and walked passed her, striding towards the glass house.

Tess blinked. "Huh. Okay then." She shrugged, following the mysterious male. "What's your name?" Time to question and learn.

"Raven."

"Nice name."

"And you?"

"Tess."

"Very lovely name."

Tess couldn't help but blush a bit. "Yeah. Thanks."

"You're quite welcome, Tess." He smirked to himself. Maybe this'll be better than planned.

Not too far away, Jackson stood, frowning, his arms crossed over his chest. His dark brown brows furrowed as he watched the new man walk towards the house, with Tess following. But, why should he care? He didn't like Tess. She was just a pesky woman who was really getting on his last nerve. But, in a way, he did care. And he didn't want to see this new person scoop her up and run away with her. It wasn't fair. He sighed loudly with annoyance, kicking his foot into the ground. God, he knew he should do something, but what? And besides, where the hell did he come from anyway? He can't appear out of thin air... right?

Jackson decided to follow this stranger. After all of his years spent as a manager, he was pretty darn good at reading people. And this stranger had trouble written all over him.

He moved silently behind them, catching snatches of conversation as the annoying red-head tried to make small-talk.

"This place is strange, don't you think?" Tess questioned. It was nice to have someone to talk to besides Jackson, Dolly, Ryan or (god forbid!) Captain Jack.

"Not nearly as strange as some places that I've been to, but still strange," remarked Raven.

Tess nodded. She had been in strange places before, but not nearly as strange as this glass house. She hated that house. So why was she walking towards it? She had avoided it like the plague ever since Jackson had dropped her from the second floor on Dolly's command.

Once, she glanced behind herself, to take a look at the woods that had become her friend, when she thought she caught a glimpse of someone behind her. Dark hair, dark clothes-- Jackson. Why would Jackson be following them? Was he worried about her?

Tess snorted softly. Jackson--worried about her? Oh, please! The smug manager cared for no one but himself! Right?

Raven glanced back at Tess. "Something wrong?" he asked, then eyed the follower, Jackson. He shook his head and looked straight ahead again.

Tess shook her head, walking up next to Raven. "Nope. Nothing." She looked up at the tall, dark haired man, eyeing him silently. "So, where do you live?"

Raven glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "All over the world." he replied, smiling.

"Really?" Tess seemed interested.

"Mmhm. But I usually stay somewhere in the U.S.."

She nodded. "What'd you come down here for? I mean, this is the last place I'd willingly want to be."

"I'm looking for someone."

"Who?"

"Just...someone."

Tess raised a brow, but let the subject go. It was probably someone who she didn't know anyway, so, why should she care?

Jackson continued to follow. He couldn't stand the feeling in the pit of his stomach, that ever-growing feeling that something wasn't right. And he didn't want Tess to get mixed up in the mess. Yes. It was final. He was worried about that redhead who seemed to attract bad luck. And, he was partially jealous. Well, more than partially. He was beginning to realize he did have feelings for her, even if he didn't want them.

But, that mysterious man. Raven, yes. He just, didn't seem...right. Like he was more than what met the eye. And Jackson wanted to find out. He continued to follow, before stepping on a small twig. He flinched, stopping quickly.

Though the noise was too soft for Tess, Raven could hear it easily. He looked over his shoulder at Jackson, his pale eyes narrowing. With a torturous smile, he slipped an arm around Tess' shoulders, who didn't seem to mind one bit. Oh, yes, this was going to be fun.


	13. Playing Death's Game

**Disclaimer: **  
Again, we don't own anything, 'cept for Tess, Dolly, and Raven.

**Chapter Twelve: Playing Death's Game**

Jackson saw red. Bright red. How dare this stranger waltz right into what he had come to think of as their woods, and walk off with Tess? The nerve of this Raven character!

Tess was Jackson's. No one else was supposed to touch her. They enjoyed their fighting--it was their way of expressing their feelings. Tess probably had yet to figure out that she liked him back, but he...damn it...he...

Jackson sighed. Raven was walking quicker now. Jackson had to jog to keep up. He reached for his trusty KA-BAR, only to find that it was still missing. Damn Dolly! She'd stolen his knife and had yet to give it back. If she _ever_ gave it back.

"Hey!" Jackson called as he closed in on the pair. "Tess!"

Raven stopped and Tess whirled around to face the manager. She had slipped out of Raven's grip to face him and he relaxed slightly, but his blue eyes were still flashing and he was still enraged.

"What's wrong?" Tess asked him, eyeing him carefully.

"You know this man?" Raven asked, glancing at Tess, who nodded, her red hair bobbing up and down.

"Yeah, Raven, I'd like you to meet Jackson..."

"Stay away from her!" Jackson yelled, leaping towards Raven. Tess managed to snag his arm before he could attack the newcomer.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" hissed Tess, glaring at Jackson. "You have no reason to fight him!"

"I don't trust him," snapped Jackson. "That's reason enough."

Tess smacked him. "When are you going to start using your brain?"

Jackson narrowed his crystal blue eyes. "When you start using yours."

"That was low," Tess growled. "Even for you."

Jackson smirked. Tess reeled back to smack him again, but he grabbed her wrist. She raised the other hand, but he grabbed that wrist as well. With both her hands in his grip, he pushed her backwards and pressed her back against a tree.

"Stay away from him. Please," he begged, his eyes softening. He was worried about her.

Tess was about to say something, but the words never came out. She couldn't get her voice to work.

It didn't take long for Raven to react to that. Within a split second (literally), a blade was pushed against Jackson's neck and Raven growled in his ear, "Let her go."

Tess looked horrified. Now that she was pinned to a tree, she couldn't do anything to help Jackson . "Oh God...Raven, don't do it!" she cried, tears welling up in her eyes. She whimpered when Raven shot her a vicious look, and turned her face away. "Please…"

Jackson swallowed hard. He breathed heavily through his nose, looking at the tree above his head. He knew that if he made one wrong more, he could say good-bye to a future with the woman he cared about. Slowly, he let Tess' wrists go and backed up into Raven. His eyes closed and his lips moved silently. Was he...praying?

Dolly walked out of the house, surprisingly, alone. Jackson's knife was in her right hand. Something didn't sound right. At all. So, she decided to see what was happening, unfortunately, running into an unwelcomed visitor. The first words that came from her mouth, "Raven..." 

She raced towards them, yelling along the way. "Let him go, you dead psycho!" she shrieked, which caught Raven's attention.

He threw Jackson to the ground and turned towards the nearby Dolly, eyes narrowing. He let the dagger dangle at his side, ignoring Tess and Jackson who were behind him. All he cared about was Dolly now. He vanished, making Tess jump and fall back on the ground, flopping next to Jackson.

Dolly stopped, looking around. "I know you too well, Raven." she said, turning to face the tall man behind her. "What the hell do you want now?" 

Raven reached over her shoulder, slowly stroking her hair. "Nothing really," he grabbed the long hair, roughly pulling her head back, exposing two silverish bite scars on her neck. "I just came to say goodbye." He slid his index finger down her sensitive neck, making her hiss in response. "I think I might actually miss you. Mm, too bad." He leaned his face close to her neck, baring a pair of razor sharp canines.

"Let her go."

The Demon's head shot up. He raised a slender, dark brow. "Well now, what do we have here? Saving another girlfriend?"

Jackson clenched his teeth. "I said, let her go." He noticed the knife, his knife, slowly slipping from Dolly's grasp. He quickly grabbed it, pointing it toward Raven. 

"What're you going to do? Hm? I'd love to see you try and kill me with it. So, if you don't mind, I'm a bit busy." He dipped his head low to Dolly's neck again.

Jackson grew enraged. He ran at Raven with it, aiming for his neck, eyes narrowed and teeth clenched. Just before the blade tip touched the tall man's skin, he grabbed the knife, green eyes looking back at Jackson.

"Do you really like pissing off Vampires?"

"No, he's just an asshole," Tess said, answering for Jackson, glaring at the manager. "He can't help but get himself into bad situations.

"Hey!--" Jackson started to protest, but then a blade pressed deep into his throat. He quickly shut up.

"He didn't mean to piss you off--I swear," the redhead promised. She knew that she should not give a damn whether or not the dark-haired man lived or died for his mistakes, but she could not help it. She could not let Jackson die. Something inside her was preventing her.

"Somehow, I highly doubt that," snapped Raven.

"Just let him and my friend go. Please," begged Tess.

"Damnit, Raven, please. Just leave them alone. It's me you want." Dolly hissed, trying to pry the man's hand from her hair.

Raven looked down at Dolly, raising a brow. "True," he responded, slowly loosening his hand on her hair. He let her hair go, then grabbed her shoulder and yanked her up. "Fine, have your little boyfriend back." He shoved Jackson towards Tess, then focused his attention on Dolly. "But you," he slid a sharp nail down Dolly's cheek, "I'm not letting you go so fast..."

"No!" Tess cried, lunging at Raven. But she was stopped by Jackson's firm grip. She tugged and kicked. "Let her go! Let her go!" Tears formed in Tess' eyes.

Jackson pulled Tess against him, holding her shoulders. "Calm down," he whispered in her ear. "It's okay. I won't let him hurt her."

"Who says?" Raven smirked at Jackson , raising a brow. "I'll do what I want to her." He grabbed Dolly's chin, turning her face to face him. "Isn't that right?"

"Go to Hell." Dolly spat, frowning.

"Mm, I've been there before. Quite pleasant." He smirked.

" Jackson," whimpered Tess, her wide eyes locked on Dolly. "Please...help me help her..."

Jackson 's cold heart went out to the upset woman in his arms. The woman that he--believe it or not--loved. He swallowed hard, loosened his grip on her and whispered, "What do you want me to do?"

Saving Dolly was quite possibly a suicide mission, but Tess wanted to save her friend and Jackson was not about to let Tess get hurt. Together they would at least try to outwit this new foe.

"Welcome to Hell on Earth," smirked Tess, raising a heavy tree branch, for she had no other weapon, and swinging at Raven.

Jackson was a safe distance behind her, KA-BAR in hand, and hopefully, Ryan was on his way.

Raven was quick. He vanished before the tree branch hit him or Dolly. But when he appeared again, someone was waiting for him. Before him, Ryan stood, snarling.

"Let her go..." The ghost hissed.

Dolly cried joyfully, wiggling around. "Ryan!" She cried her best to pull out of the Demon's hold, but it wasn't working well. The harder she tried, the tighter Raven held.

"Well, if it isn't Dolly's little apparition friend coming to save her." Raven said, smirking.

Ryan narrowed his eyes. "I said let her go..."

"Why does it matter to you? Hm?" He raised a brow, glancing down at Dolly. "She's just another person walking and breathing."

"Because she's my friend!" Tess yelled, eyes blazing. Her hands trembled as she held the tree branch tightly. She clenched her teeth, blue-ish green eyes narrowing. "And she's more than just a person; she'll never be some crazy bastard like you!"

Raven narrowed his eyes, tossing Dolly to the ground. He walked towards Tess, eyes flashing in anger. He grabbed the small redhead, yanking her from Jackson, before grabbing her neck and lifting her off the ground. "Do you have a death wish, bitch?"

Dolly fell roughly on the ground, wincing. Slowly, she got up, limping slightly towards Raven. She looked at Jackson, hinting for the knife with her eyes, before looking at Tess, who was flinching and kicking her feet. "No, she doesn't Raven, but I see you do."

Jackson tossed the knife; Dolly catching it quickly. "Put her down Raven," she said warningly, walking by his side. She flashed the knife near his face, warning him. "You know I'm not afraid to kill you." She was right. He did know.

Slowly, Raven set Tess down, eyeing Dolly. He watched as Tess scrambled towards Jackson , embracing him and crying. His eyes averted to Dolly again, watching her as she stepped in front of him and held the knife against his chest. He didn't move, just watched.

"Kill me," he said. "Does it make a difference?"

Dolly pushed the blade into his chest, making him wince and growl. "I'm not going to kill you, Raven. But I want your dead ass out of here now, and I want it to stay away from here and never come back. Do I make myself clear?" Her eyes darkened and her brows furrowed.

Raven nodded, pulling back. "I'm not done with you, Dolly. I'll make sure we'll meet again." With a sadistic laugh, the Vampire vanished. They were safe now.


	14. Multi Use Rum

**Disclaimer**: Still don't own anything, 'cept for somewhat of a plot, Tess, and Dolly.

**Chapter Thirteen: Multi-use Rum**

"Hey, hey, it's okay now," soothed Jackson.

"Is he gone?" Tess whispered, her blue-green-gray eyes darting around.

"He sure as hell better be," said Dolly.

"Dolly!" squeaked Tess, ripping free of Jackson's comforting embrace to launch herself at her best friend.

Dolly seemed taken aback by the redhead's enthusastic hug. Nethertheless, she hugged her very short friend back.

"I'm so sorry you were dragged into this." she said to both Jackson and Tess. She gently pulled away from Tess' embrace, turning to the house.

"Dolly, where are you going?" Tess asked, walking after her friend. But Jackson grabbed her arm, pulling her back into his arms.

"Not now," he said softly, watching Dolly walk away. "She needs time alone."

Dolly sat on her claimed bed, hugging a pillow and staring off into space. Something was bothering her; it was seen in her eyes. She sighed softly, closing her eyes, not noticing Ryan, who walked in.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh..?" She snapped back into reality. "Oh, Ryan, hi. Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded, turning to face him. "Why did he have to do that?" She frowned.

Ryan walked over, sitting next to her on the bed. "I don't know. But at least you're okay."

"Yeah." she said softly, nodding. "What about Tess and Jackson? Are they okay?" She looked at Ryan with worried eyes.

"They're fine. I think Tess is a bit worried about you."

"Hmm. That's a first." She shook her head, then scooted past Ryan, curling up under the sheets. "If Tess asks what I'm doing, tell her I'm dead."

Tess nodded and Jackson carefully pulled her down to the ground, still holding her close. He leaned against a tree and Tess sat on his lap, laying her head on his shoulder. She sighed wearily.

"Tired?" Jackson asked her curiously, though he already knew the answer.

"Understatement of the year," she yawned. "You think Dolly's okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure she's fine. You need to start worrying more about..."

"Don't even start," Tess warned, pointing a finger in Jackson's face. He just stared at her finger, so she poked him in the nose.

"Ouch," he complained, lying to her. She rolled her eyes.

"Wimp."

"Are you sure?"

"That you're a wimp? Yeah--" Tess was cut off by Jackson.

Jackson Rippner, former assassination manager, had just kissed her. And she had liked it.

"Hey..." Ryan crawled up next to her. "Don't say that."

"I feel like it."

"You feel like you're dead?" He chuckled. "Try being me for a day."

"Oh yes, wouldn't that be so much fun." She looked at Ryan and smiled a bit.

"I'd love to see you in a straightjacket..."

"And what's that s'posed to mean?" She furrowed her brows. "Stop thinking nasty." She reached over, tapping his cage.

"I wasn't." he whined, pouting and pulling away. He lifted his hands to his face, trying to make an unsuccessful sob, which turned out more like a giggley whimper.

"Wow, you can't even cry without giggling." She shook her head. "You should practice on that."

"Hmn..." He rested his on on a pillow, watching her silently.

"Are you going to stare at me until I go to sleep?"

"Maybe."

"Any reason why?"

"Not really." He smiled.

She shook her head. "...Pervert..." She then rolled onto her other side, facing away from him.

"Did that really just happen?" Tess questioned Jackson, midly and pleasantly shocked.

"Did what just happen?" Jackson was confused, or at least trying to act confused.

Tess swallowed. "Didyoujustreallykissme?"

"Sorry, but I didn't catch a word of that," Jackson smirked.

Tess rolled her eyes and flicked Jackson between his blue eyes. He glared at her for a moment and then smiled.

"What?" Tess asked, worried.

"Nothing," Jackson replied, a devious grin upon his face.

Tess raised her eyebrows and tried to act serious. Her act lasted for a few seconds until Jackson decided to copy it. She burst out in laughter and nearly fell of his lap, but his arm reached out to steady her. She tried not to laugh, despite her precarious postion.

Jackson bent down to kiss her, when something came flying out of nowhere and smacked him in the face. He dropped Tess, who swore as she rudely hit the ground.

"100 points to me!" Capt. Jack cried out cheerfully. "I guess me rum is very flexible with uses."

Jackson and Tess looked at each other for a brief second before yelling, "Get him!"

"Stay away from me rum!" Capt. Jack turned and ran, Tess and Jackson hot on his heels.


	15. What Hat?

Ryan smiled. "I know I am, but I can't help it," he replied, reaching over and tracing his nail across her back. "It's too much fun."

"Uh-huh," she shivered, then rolled over, quickly grabbing his hand. "I bet it is."

He raised a brow, looking at their hands. He smiled, then looked at her. "Well, isn't his interesting..." he said, looking back down at their hands.

Dolly moved to pull her hand away, but he held it. "Okay Ryan, not funny." she said, trying to pull away again.

"I'm not being funny."

"Then let go."

"No."

"And why not?"

"Because you're hand's warm and nice to hold." He smiled.

She blushed, smiling a bit. "Yeah, that happens when you're human."

"I know," he let her hand go, then sat up and grabbed her hand again. He pulled her up, then pulled her close, holding her in an embrace.

She yelped in surprise, but returned the gentle gesture. "Well Ryan, I didn't know you liked to hug." she said, resting her hands on the middle of his back.

"You're warm."

"Yeah. I know. You're freaking me out a bit."

"And why's that?"

"Because, I'm hugging a homicidal, manical ghost who's in a straight jacket and cage," she pulled back to look at him, "and also, I am girl, who has no defense if you decided to turn and freak out on me."

"Now why would I do that?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know what goes through your cranium."

He smiled. "No worries. I wouldn't do that to you."

"Yeah sure." She rolled her eyes, then squeaked when Ryan's cold hand grabbed her chin, turning her head to face him.

"Would you like to see?"

"Ya know... I really would prefer no-" But she was cut of when she felt metal gently brush her face, and a pair of cold lips touch hers. She yelped, pulling away. "Ryan! I'm going to ki- God damnit, you're already dead." She huffed, looking at him. He had the biggest grin on his face, yellow eyes flickering madly. She reached up, touching her lips. "You could've warned me..." she said more softly.

"I could've, but it was more fun seeing your face."

She sighed. "You're not going to do that everytime you see me, are you?" she asked, raising a brow. Deep down inside, though she seemed revolted, she did enjoy it a hair. Okay, maybe more. But she wouldn't tell him that.

"Maybe, I haven't decided."

"Oh Lordy."

* * *

"Where'd that drunk pirate go?" Jackson fumed.

"Who knows?" shrugged Tess, sighing loudly.

Jackson rested against a tree and pulled Tess to his chest. She relaxed on him and they both sighed.

"My feet hurt," Tess finally said.

"You're not gonna take your shoes off, are you?" Jackson questioned, eyebrows raised.

"No, do you want me too?"

"I think I'll pass."

"Fine."

Jackson picked up where he left off, kissing her soundly and forcefully. Sweet was not Jackson's style. Tess smiled during the kiss and pouted when it ended.

"What?" Jackson asked her, observing her face.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Would you like another pen in your throat?"

"Point taken."

Tess smirked.

* * *

"You have to make up your mind, Ryan." She said, looking straight into his eyes.

"Do not." He replied, smiling.

"Do too." She leaned close, pressing her nose against his. She made a face, gritting her teeth.

"You aren't very convincing, I hope you know." He smiled, pressing his nose back against hers, careful of the metal torture device around his head.

Dolly pulled back, rubbing her nose. "Owie. That hurt." She pouted, glaring at Ryan.

"Aw, want me to kiss it and make it feel better?" he asked,

"No." She continued to rub her nose.

"Suit yourself," he leaned back, glancing around the room. "Can you smell something odd?"

"If it's you, then yes." She said, watching as he looked and glared at her. "I was joking." Slowly, she dropped her hands from her nose. "Yeah, it does smell odd. Like, rum or something..."

"Hm." Ryan stared quizzically at the doorway.

"Don't worry about it," she gently patted his shoulder. "It's probably Capt. Jack."

He looked back over at her. "Do you think so?" he asked, pulling her closer with a smile.

"Yep, I think so." She nodded, then looked at the doorway. "Wait, someone there?" She frowned a bit, before watching Capt. Jack popped into the room. "Oh, please shoot me now."

Capt. Jack look at them, face twisted with horror. He chucked another empty rum bottle at the two. Dolly ducked, but Ryan didn't seem to react so fast. The bottle collided into his caged head, shattering all over the two.

Ryan growled softly, letting Dolly go who was shaking glass off of herself. He stood up, and lunged at Capt. Jack, who began to run frantically.

"Not me rum!" he yelled, which wouldn't be a surprise if Tess and Jackson heard it. "Me run is mine!"

"What the hell?" Jackson asked, staring at Tess.

Suddenly, loud screaming filled the air and they were running towards it, Jackson with a knife in his hand. He made sure that Tess stayed behind him as they entered the house.

"Not me rum!" screamed Capt. Jack as he streaked past the two, followed by Ryan.

"False alarm," Tess sighed, plopping down on the ground.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Dolly ran up to them. "Did he do the same to you?" she asked, sitting down next to Tess. "He threw a bottle at us, but I ducked and Ryan got hit. Sooo, he's chasing him around."

A bottle flew up in the air, heading towards the trio. Jackson grabbed Tess and held her close and Dolly backed up and shielded her face. The glass shattered and rum spilled all over the floor. Tess wailed uncontrollably, grieving the loss of a sacred rum bottle.

"Why, damnit, why!" She pounded on the floor, then burried her face into Jackson 's chest, still sobbing.

"I'm... uh... going to see what they're doing... hopefully not killing themselves..."

"Good luck with that," snorted Jackson, still trying to awkwardly comfort Tess.

"Oh, go fuck yourself, Jack," snapped Dolly.

Jackson glared towards the blonde. He really hated her at times. She was incredibly different than her redheaded best friend.

"Jackson?" Tess' voice was muffled by his clothes.

"Yes?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Why did it have to be the rum!"

"Well, sometimes bad things happen to good drinks." He let out a sigh.

"I thought that was 'good people', not drinks."

"That too."

Dolly stood up slowly, glaring at Jackson. She then looked around, trying to find the two. But no luck. So she began to wonder down the hall. She kicked Capt. Jack's hat and raised a brow, picking it up and flopping it on her head. She giggled and continued down the hall.

* * *

"Me hat! Me hat is gone!" Jack yelled, looking over his shoulder at Ryan.

"Do you think I care?" Ryan swiped at his shoulder and missed by a hair. "You threw a bottle of rum at me!" He tried again.

Jack ducked, then turned another hall. "Okay! I'm sorree! Just give me hat back!"

"I don't have it," he continued the chase. "What would I do with it?"

Dolly looked up and squeaked, pressing against the wall as Ryan and Jack ran by. "Whoa, close one." She sighed, walking down the hall behind them.

"Me hat! The wench has me hat!"

Ryan stopped, narrowing his eyes. "She's not a wench." he growled.

* * *

"Do you hear something?" Tess asked Jackson, sniffling a bit. "Something about a hat...?"

"I think..." Jackson replied, furrowing his brows.

"Hey guys, look what I found! Capt. Jack's hat!" She took the hat off and held it out proudly. "I think he dropped it."

"Hat! I want the hat!" Tess cried, trying to launch herself at Dolly.

Jackson held her back. "No, you can't have the hat."

Tess whimpered. Jackson pulled her close, rubbing her back and trying to comfort her.

"Argh! Give me hat back!" yelled Capt. Jack as he rushed into the room.

"Oops, gotta go!" Dolly cried, taking off.

"No! I want the hat!" Tess cried again, clawing frantically. "Come back with the hat!"

"It's me hat! No one else's! ME, I TELL YE! ME!"

Dolly ran madly, grazing pass the glass walls. She pulled the hat off of her head and held it to her chest, grinning from ear to ear. She scrambled up the stairs, and into a bedroom, stuffing the hat under the glass covered sheets. She sat down carefully and picked at her nails.

Ryan was the first to burst into the room. "Where'd he go?" he asked, looking around frantically.

"I dunno." She shrugged. "I still have his hat." She giggled with amusement.

Ryan chuckled. "Good girl."

They both shutup when they heard an enraged Capt. Jack start up the stairs. "Me hat!" he hollered, panting hard. "I want me hat now! I won't sleep until I get me hat back!"

"Oh Hell, he's missing a few nuts and bolts." Dolly sighed.

* * *

"Shh, it's okay," Jackson soothed, trying to console Tess.

"But I want the HATTTTT!" she whined, pouting like a little kid as she did so.

"I knowwww!" Jackson teased her, mimicking her voice.

"Hey!"

"Hay is for horses."

Tess made a sour face and crossed her arms as best she could. Jackson smirked at her.

"What?" she asked him.

"Nothing. You're just so cute when you act like a kid."


End file.
